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An Unscrupulous Undertaking: Atrocious Arrangements Pt 2
The welcome the second time is less formal than the first. This time the deck officer recognized the ISB agent, even though he wasn't on duty yesterday. Rummors travel fast on a ship. "Here to see the 'lord' trustee no doubt," the man interjects as he passes over a pass. This time an inordinately large, stone faced, Vaathkree crewman is waiting to escort the ISB agent up to adminstration deck. The Vaathkree, unlike the previous crewer is not bothered by the ISB agent's status. When the two enter the lift he asks, "It is a fine afternoon isn't it Agent? I hear the next aide shipment is due in today - exciting isn't it?" Agent Corentin answers only with silence and a curious glance, appraising the Vaathkree and noting the change in escort with a hint of a smile. The lift continues and the man stands perfectly straight in stone silence until they reach their destination. The Vaathkree raises a brow (or what passes as one) at the silence, but gets the message. He leads the agent back to the VicePrex's office and opens the door. "Sir, Agent Corentin is here," he interjects an waits for Oppenhiemer to nod before returning to his duties. "Agent, you came at just the right time," Oppenhiemer replies with a bounce to his voice, "I believe I have all your pieces assembled." "I am most pleased to hear that, Mr. Oppenheimer," The agent purrs as he closes the distance between them. "I knew our confidence in you was not misplaced. If all is well, you will have once again upheld your longstanding reputation for being able to get things done." He raises a silk gloved hand, palm up, The fingers, long and seemingly skeletal, beneath the sheen of the cloth are relaxed open in invitation. He nods curtly as he continues, "Please, elaborate the details." The doors swooshes closed. "The Hutts have a new major domo, a Faleen" Oppenhiemer replies. "He has agreed to be the transfer point. Your associates will leave the wookies with him and his people, he will give them the arms. Your people, operating under a cover - Bonadan Labor Solutions LLC - will then come shortly there after and take possesion of the merchandise. The Etti Group will handle the purchasing of the weapons, and disbursement of payment to interested parties upfront for each transaction. Bonadan Labor Solutions will handle its own corporate filings. All that remains is for you to identify a transport vessel and who I should make the false identification papers up for, so that their cover can own Bonadan Labor Solutions." For the first time since his arrival yesterday, Corentin looks positively pleased. "Mr. Oppenheimer, you have indeed surpassed expectations. This will serve our purposes quite nicely. I will arrange for an appropriate transport to be outfitted and notify you with it's information when it is ready. The identification papers can be made in my name, and I will act as head of this, 'Bonadan Labor Solutions' was it? My only remaining concern is in regards to cost. I imagine you expect extra compensation for this...creative solution." "The Empire, or Bonadan Labor Solutions, or even you personally will simply pay the Etti Group a signicant fee to aquire the weapons and deliver them to the Faleen." Oppenhiemer continues, "A Wookie slave goes for about 30,000 on the open market, I'm not sure what weapons and armor exactly you will want sent to Trandosha, but how about we say you give the Etti Group 40,000 credits per unit? We'll aquire 30,000 credits of weapons, per wookie. You provide us with a list from their catalogue, but I'd recommend the EKX-10 rifle at 1,500 credits, the M434 pistol at 1,100 credits, and of course their lines of combat and light armor at 2,500 and 2,000 credits respectively. Of course as your company will be leasing the units to your government, I'll leave those details to you, should you care to iron them out. Does that sound reasonable?" The Agent appears a little puzzles by the price. A thin eyebrow arches in disbelief before knitting itself in frustration. "Sir, either you take me for a fool, or you are missing some vital information. I sincerely hope it's the latter." He pauses a long while, studying the man's face to see if he can determine his motives. "You are aware that we are speaking of quantities in the thousands are you not? The Trandoshans have promised a VERY liberal supply. $40,000 credits a unit simply will not do when moving 10,000 units. We can give you 10,000 credits per unit. 100,000 credits should be ample to arm the lizards and pad your accounts." "Okay, so there are two distinct things here," Oppenhiemer continues very calmly, "The first is what the Trandoshan's expect to be paid - whatever you have worked out with them is fine, but the further below market that it is, the more you risk them trying to sell their stock on the open, legal market, or even the more traditional black market. You also run the risk of people on Nar Shadaa asking questions because the amount of weapons changing hands doesn't look right. In the end, these are your risks to weigh. Personally, especially given that the whole reason you are involving me is to keep this quiet and unnoticed, I'd stick closer to the market, but it is your call." Corentin's brows knit tighter in thought. A spindly, gloved hand rises to stroke his scarred, boney chin. "Perhaps you're right." The wheels of thought furiously spin behind steel grey eyes; risk vs reward, and wether or not such significant sums can be requisitioned feasibly. "If we move 5,000 units now, and the rest at a future date we can increase the chances of freeing up adequate funds without much sacrifice. 40,000 per unit may still be a little high. I understand the risks, and we came to you for your expertise in this market, but surely there must be a more reasonable price that will meet all of our needs." "The second item that goes into your costs is what the Etti group is paid," Oppenhiemer continues as he stands and places his hands behind his back in a rather militaristic gesture. "Essentially the Etti Group is laundering money, except that the downside if we are caught is gargantuan. Getting caught will end my ability to ever do business on Rebel worlds, it will end my ability to do business with many unaligned folk, it will destroy what I'm investing in on Caspar, and it will decimate my ability to carry out corporate espionage. If this goes south, I will be a pariah. To launder money that dirty, most money launderers would charge you between 30 and 50 percent. As you know the cause has certain sympathies for me, so I am willing to take on some of those risks. If you want to pay the Etti Group on a per unit basis, I think a 25 percent markup is fair. If we want to structure this as an upfront fee for up to so many units, I could go lower - but your suggestion is less than 1 percent, I won't be able to bribe the people I need to bribe to insulate myself for that." "Hmm, I understand." The agent muses quietly in reply. "What do you propose for 5,000 units up front? I will take this figure and your concerns to my superiors for approval. This matter is of supreme importance, but I cannot simply requisition this magnitude of money on my own authority. I am confident we can move forward with whatever you deem fair, but I need something concrete to submit to those with the appropriate credentials." "Five thousand, at market price, 15 percent overhead to cover bribes, costs such as fuel and of course profits for those involved," Zeak says as he closes his eyes to do a little mental math, "The base cost comes to 150 million credits, markup is 22.5 million credits." Oppenhiemer then opens his eyes again, "All in, that makes it 172.5 million. Now of course if the Trandoshans are willing to drop that to, what was it you suggested, 10 thousand? That gives you a base cost of 50 million credits, 15 percent of that 7.5 million, for 57.5 million all in." The Agent's smile returns now, for the first time there is even a hint of warmth in it. "This is much better, my friend. The arrangements can easily be made with the Trandoshans. I will present these figures to my superiors, and send a response via coded transmission with the proper approvals. Please begin moving forward with my identification for the corporate filing. Once the accounts are set up, the requisitioned funds will be transferred. Please allow some time, as we must do this quietly as well. Given the current Bonadan situation, we cannot simply transfer from Imperial accounts without raising suspicions." Corentin extends a hand to officially close the negotiations. "Once all is in place we will meet again on Nar Shadda to deal with your Hutt...Faleen you said?" "Yes a Falleen," Oppenhiemer replies with a mixed expression. "I'm guessing the Hutts have not yet recovered their internal equilibrium after the mess of late with Darth Malign. They seem to have pulled back from leading their financial empire and have delegated their responsibilites. The Pleasure palace is is being run by a Falleen by the name of Nasiri Gekalli. He'll be the contact. As for the transfers, there may be ways to make them easier by dealing in merchandise or equipment instead of credits. We might also be able to hide the transfers in the other large scale business transactions that routinely go on." "Very well," Corentin replies, his hand still outstretched waiting patiently on Oppenheimer's. "All the necessary arrangements will be taken care of." Oppenhiemer takes the agent's hand. "I'll give some thought to alternative payment arrangements. I'll let you know if I come up with any ideas that might allow Lord Thel to spread the cost among some of his industrial supporters." The agent's grip is skeletal, yet surprisingly firm. "Very good. You have done well. I look forward to the remainder of our business together." And with that, the grip is released with a slight nod. His business concluded, Corentin turns and makes his way for the door at an efficient pace. Oppenhiemer watches him leave before pressing the intercom button on his desk, "Oppenhiemer here, our guest is heading your direction. Do make sure he doesn't get lost on his way out. Kid gloves and all that. Oppenhiemer out." Of course this Star Destroyer is laid out exactly like the ones in the Imperial fleet, but the idea that ISB might take the opportunity to snoop around is far from novel.